Children's Home run by Surrey County Council in Surrey

Inspection report children’s home: SC040628 1 SC040628 Registered provider: Surrey County Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to eight children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a local authority.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 21 to 22 September 2017

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Poor admission decisions in relation to emergency placements have adversely affected the safety and well-being of young people already living at the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC040628 2 Leaders and managers are not adequately promoting young people’s welfare and protecting them.  Leaders and managers are not responding appropriately to the conclusions from risk assessments undertaken before a young person is admitted to the home. They are not implementing the home’s statement of purpose.  Young people are not always experiencing a warm and welcoming introduction to the home.  Supervision for staff does not consistently demonstrate a sufficient level of reflection and focus on improving staff practice and safeguarding the young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Through the nurturing and responsive approach from the staff, the young people have developed their confidence, self-esteem and their ability to communicate their emotions more appropriately.  The young people develop meaningful and trusting relationships with the staff which helps them feel safe. The young people feel safe knowing that the staff listen to them and respond to their particular needs.  The staff work cohesively, are resilient and support each other through difficult periods when the young people are displaying extremely challenging behaviour.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/03/2017 Full Good 18/05/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/11/2015 Full Good 12/08/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC040628 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— promotes their welfare. (Regulation 13(1)(b)) 17/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 6(1) and (2)(a)) 17/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12(1) and (2)(a)(i)) 17/11/2017

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Recommendations

 Emergency admissions should not be taken unless the home’s Statement of Purpose and its capacity and support systems mean that it has the capability to care for children admitted at very short notice while continuing to offer high quality care to children already living at the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes Inspection report children’s home: SC040628 4 regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, and paragraph 3.6)  Registered persons must ensure there are procedures in place for welcoming and introducing each child to the home, and that they are sensitive to the needs of the child at the time of arrival. A warm welcome and introduction to the home is an entitlement for all children whether they are admitted in a planned way or in an emergency. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, and paragraph 11.7)  The registered person must ensure that supervision of staff safeguards children

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Recommendations

and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, and paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should only accept placements for children when they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, and paragraph 11.4)

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improvement to be good

Some young people living at the home have experienced periods of stability and have benefited from the individualised care provided by the staff. Young people’s self-esteem, confidence and ability to communicate their emotions have improved. Through the nurturing and responsive approach from the staff, young people are developing trusting relationships with the staff and they are learning to manage their emotions more appropriately. A young person said that she can talk to staff if she is worried and that the best thing about the home is, ‘The staff. They make me laugh and they are nice to be around.’ The staff value the young people’s views and opinions. They listen and involve the young people in discussions about decisions affecting their care and their home life. One young person has been actively involved in dialogue about the planning of new admissions to the home and the impact of new young people on her experience of living at the home.

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improvement to be good

Close liaison between the staff and education staff helps the young people overcome their difficulties when engaging in education so that they can make progress. The managers and the staff are committed to ensuring that the young people receive appropriate education. The young people attend specialist, therapeutic education provision and alternative learning programmes with support from the virtual school. Close monitoring of the young people’s physical and emotional health ensures that the staff identify the young people’s specific needs and that they are clear about what the young people need to be healthier and happier. The young people learn the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and access specialist support and advice when needed. The staff receive support from a worker from the child and adolescent mental health service, who attends Inspection report children’s home: SC040628 5 fortnightly team meetings to advise the staff on appropriate strategies to promote the

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improvement to be good

young people’s psychological and emotional well-being. The registered manager and the staff acknowledge that the young people’s progress and experiences living at the home have been significantly affected by the emergency admissions of new young people. Despite the challenges that they have faced in recent months, the staff remain professional and treat the young people with dignity and respect. Meeting the needs of the young people is at the centre of their practice.

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improvement to be good

The staff prioritise the safety and well-being of the young people. Protecting the young people’s welfare is central to the staff’s practice. Through responsive and nurturing care, the young people develop meaningful and trusting relationships with the staff. These trusting relationships, along with structure and clear boundaries, help the young people to feel safe. The staff recognise and respond to the young people’s individual needs. They understand the particular risks relating to each young person. Risk assessments provide clear guidance for the staff to reduce the potential of harm. However, the staff have been unable to sustain this good level of practice in protecting the young people due to the decisions made by managers to admit young people in an emergency without appropriate regard to the effect on the existing group. Consequently, the young people have experienced a significant period of disruption and they have displayed negative and

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improvement to be good

distressing behaviour. The staff have been unable to meet the needs of the young people admitted in an emergency and the registered manager has terminated these placements. This poor admission practice has not promoted the welfare of the young people. Some young people have not experienced a warm and welcoming introduction to the home. There has been an increase in incidents of young people leaving the home without permission. The staff respond effectively, applying agreed procedures that include independent return interviews, to safeguard the young people and ensure their safe return. The staff are resilient when faced with prolonged periods of challenging behaviour. They use physical intervention appropriately to manage difficult behaviour when there is a risk of harm. The staff record such incidents properly and the registered manager monitors these records effectively. The staff receive comprehensive training in relation to all safeguarding matters such as

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improvement to be good

child sexual exploitation, radicalisation and e-safety. The staff’s appreciation of the dangers that the young people face increases their vigilance in identifying potential risks and protecting them. Raising the young people’s awareness of online safety is ongoing, with suitable precautions and safety measures in place to protect them. The young people complete e-safety learning and receive one-to-one sessions from specialist workers to reduce their risk of sexual exploitation. Inspection report children’s home: SC040628 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Recent decisions to accept emergency placements demonstrate that leaders and managers are not effectively promoting young people’s welfare. They are not implementing the home’s statement of purpose. On one occasion, despite assessing the existing needs of the young people living at the home and concluding that the staff could not safely manage the risks associated with the new young person’s behaviour, leaders and managers have accepted the young person. Consequently, the existing group of young people already living at the home have experienced disruption and their behaviour has escalated to the point where serious incidents have occurred. The staff work cohesively, are resilient and support each other through difficult periods. They acknowledge and appreciate the support provided by the registered manager. Supervision for the staff is regular, but not all records of the discussions show a sufficient level of reflection or focus on improving staff practice and safeguarding the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

young people. Training for the experienced and stable staff team is comprehensive, ensuring that staff perform their roles competently. The registered manager continually monitors the young people’s progress and has a good understanding of each young person’s specific needs. The managers and the staff discuss the young people’s targets during staff meetings to ensure that the staff provide effective support to promote the young people’s development. Monthly reports by an independent visitor are rigorous and identify shortfalls. The development plan for the home is child focused, with an emphasis on developing a strong and effective staff team.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC040628 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Quadrant Court, 35 Guildford Road, Woking GU22 7QQ

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Inspector

Jan Hunnam, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC040628 8 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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